NAACP Opposes Proposed Changes To Social Security

February 02, 2005

Bush Administration plan would put African American elderly
at risk

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), the nation's oldest, largest and most widely-recognized
grassroots civil rights organization, strongly opposes any plan
that would decrease or in any way jeopardize the guaranteed
benefits that America's seniors, disabled or surviving family
members currently receive from Social Security.

NAACP Interim President and CEO Dennis Hayes said: "Social
Security is the only source of income for 1 in 3 African Americans
over the age of 65. Without the guaranteed Social Security benefits
they receive today, the poverty rate among older African Americans
would more than double, pushing these seniors into squalor and
poverty during their most vulnerable years."

As such, the NAACP opposes gambling Social Security benefits on
the volatile stock market that has in recent years, left too many
seniors with nothing but a government program to sustain them.
There is a concern that privatization would result in all Social
Security beneficiaries paying more for the administration of the
program, and thus receiving less.

Moreover, Hayes said: "President Bush's assertion that Social
Security is a bad deal for African Americans because our life
expectancy is shorter than whites is misleading because it assumes
that blacks will forever die sooner than whites. Rather than
privatize Social Security the administration should take steps to
improve health care as a means to decrease the black mortality
rate. It is also noteworthy that the life expectancy rate for
blacks improves if they survive the pathologies that impact on
young African Americans, particularly black males." The New York
Times reported that African American men who live to 65 generally
collect benefits for 14.6 years, just short of the rate of 16.6
years for white men.

The NAACP believes that Social Security remains especially
important to African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups
as they have traditionally been at the low end of the earning scale
over their lifetimes. As a result, Americans of color are less
likely to have substantial individual savings and are generally
more dependent on Social Security in their retirement years. By
contrast, the Bureau of Census reports that less than half of all
retirees receive income from pensions.

Proposals to "privatize" Social Security concern the NAACP for
several reasons. While the NAACP strongly encourages all Americans
at every age and of every racial and ethnic background to invest in
the American economy and to save for the future, privatization of
one's Social Security benefits would make many seniors even more
dependent on the state of the national economy.

Furthermore, Social Security benefits for disabled workers and
surviving family members are also imperative to the survival of a
high number of African Americans. African Americans between the
ages of 50 and 59 are nearly two times as likely as other workers
in that age group to become disabled. Additionally, African
American children are almost four times more likely to be lifted
out of poverty by Social Security benefits than their white
counterparts.

Hayes said: "We must take care to see that the impact of any
changes in the Social Security system does not fall
disproportionately on lower income groups, or on those Americans
whose work-life has been physically demanding. Any changes should
not make the financing of Social Security any less
progressive."

In addition to ensuring the continuity of guaranteed benefits at
their current levels, the NAACP will also focus on the need to
address issues that have not changed for decades, such as the
burial amount given to survivors. Currently, Social Security
provides families with $255 to cover burial fees; an amount that
has not changed since 1955. At 2005 rates, that is barely enough to
cover the flower arrangements.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest
civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members
throughout the United States and the world are the premier
advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter
mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and
private sectors.